“Sleeping Satellite” writer Tasmin Archer fixture of UK music scene

Seventeen years ago, singer-songwriter Tasmin Archer burst onto the charts (#1 UK, #32 US) with Sleeping Satellite, a driving folk-rock piece with atmospheric synthesizer flourishes supporting a haunting, thoughtful lyric mourning the premature end of the space age. (Perhaps you remember the chorus: “I blame you for the moonlit sky/ And the dream that died/ with the eagle’s flight…”)

Cover to Tasmin Archer's "Sleeping Satellite" EP

Then, just as quickly, she disappeared from the U.S. charts and airwaves. Several more tracks from her debut album “Great Expectations” charted in her native UK, but with diminishing returns. Her 1996 follow-up, “Bloom,” despite some very strong material, garnered very little attention, and Archer, whose relations with EMI had grown acrimonious, chose to take a break from the industry.

A bout of writers block delayed her return to the music business, but, still driven to be creative, she took up painting and sculpture, as well as nurturing an intense interest in the Sunderland AFC football (or soccer, if you speak American) team.

In 2002, Archer began writing again, and released “ON” in 2006, on her own label. (You can hear ON and comment on tracks via a social media service named SoundCloud — see her site for more info.)

By the way, despite the long absence from wide public visibility, she has some form of cult following: after all, a “Sleeping Satellite” EP was selling for $77 today on Amazon. We encourage you to keep your eye on Ms. Archer, and we plan to as well!